Rising Star
by EarthHeartIdiot
Summary: Hiatus A new mission, a strange girl with strange powers, and a deadly foe, literally. Can Yusuke and the gang solve the mystery behind this girl's past before it swallows her whole and the world with her. R&R Please. UPDATED
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. I do own Arissa and Alexia.

Prologue

"Arissa! Arissa!" Yelled a small girl from the edge of the dock on the small lake. A head splashed up from the water several yards away. "Arissa!" She yelled again, before the head can disappear beneath the waters. Sharp green eyes glare at the little girl. "What Alexia!" Her clear voice cuts across the waters, showing her annoyance at being interrupted. Alexia flinches hurt at the harshness of her older sister's voice. Arissa's eyes soften, seeing the bobbing gold curls, so like her own, bounce with her sister's flinch. She swam closer to the dock, and said in a soothing voice, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bite, now tell me what you wanted." Alexia looked like she was debating on whether or not to even talk to Arissa after her rude behavior. She finally looked at her sister's sincere eyes, stuck her chin in the air and huffed out. "You're in trouble! You wasn't s'possed to go swimming! You were told to clean the stables! I'm telling! Nya!" The little six year old stuck out her tongue and ran into the woods, following the safe trail back to the ranch.

Arissa stared at the retreating form in stupification as she treaded water. Finally she swore, "Why that little pipsqueak! And here I was feeling sorry for sniping at her. Agh!" Arissa swam to the ladder on the wooden dock and hauled herself out of the water, swearing at the wind, as it's chill bit at her wet bikini clad form. "Ttteach mme nnott to go sswwimming at tthhe beggginning of sppring!" She chittered at herself, quickly drying herself off with the towel she had brought with her. Once she finished drying her body off she wrapped the already damp towel around her long drenched hair. She pulled on her dry clothes, thanking whoever that Alexandra had not decided to throw them in the water like she did the last time she caught Arissa in the lake and Arissa had pissed her off. She pulled on her t-shirt and slipped into her jeans, relishing in what little warmth her clothes gave. As Arissa ran to the edge of the woods, wrestling her tennis shoes on, she heard a chilling scream. "Alexia!" She gasped.

Arissa darted down the trail as fast as her bare feet could carry her; she had given up on the shoes as soon as she heard the scream. It was dusk out in the open, but now in the woods it looked almost midnight. Against everything screaming in her, Arissa slowed down. She knew that if she took a misstep she would be no help to her sister.

Something snapped, a rustle in the brush, close behind. It wasn't her and it wasn't a small woodland creature. Mountain lions? No, a mountain lion would only make such a sound when attacking, and it would have been downwind of her. The sound was upwind. Arissa twirled around, her dagger, a gift from her father for various uses in the woods and self defense, sliding easily out of it's sheathe she had attached to a belt loop on her jeans. She slashed out as she finished the turn, only to find dead eyes staring at her.

* * *

"Yusuke!" Yelled a blue haired woman, as she whacked a tall man over the head with an oar. "OW!" Yelled Yusuke as he rubbed his head. "Y'know Botan, you didn't have to do that!" He looked at the irrate Botan who only huffed and pulled out a sheaf of papers from the folds of her pink kimono. "Well, you never seem to pay attention unless you have been hit on the head a few times. Now, here's what I have been trying to talk about." She handed Yusuke the papers. Yusuke looked over them, one hand slicking back his hair that had been mussed from the oar. He read aloud. "Arissa Laine, age: 19, sex: female, height: 5'1", weight: 115lbs. birth date: October 21, likes and hobbies: Art, swimming, dancing, throwing daggers, riding and raising mustangs, dislikes and yada yadayada.." He looked at Botan, "What the hell is this crap! Some kind of dating info or something?" He handed the papers back, shoved his hands into the pockets of his blazer, and started to walk off, saying, "I'm not interested. I'm married, remember." WHACK! Yusuke doubled over from the blow to the back of his head. "Dammit woman! What was that for!" "Be seriouse Yusuke! Read again, carefully this time!" She shoved the papers at Yusuke again. He huffed, but did as he was told, rubbing the sore lump on the back of his skull. "Arissa, age, sex…" His eyes caught onto something he had passed over before. "…Race: Demon…"


	2. Chapter One

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. I do own Arissa and Alexia.

AN- As I write this, I realize that a horse ranch in the Rocky Mountains might be impossible or not right, but I had to have her origins in a secluded place, and I decided to have horses, so what. I've restarted this after WA and BA and I realize that the twins in this fic and the twins in WA and BA are named the same. But hey! Aren't they just cute names for the children of Yukina and Kuwabarra? 'Sword' and 'Cherry'.

Chapter One

"What type of youkai or apparition is she Hiei?" A tall red head asked politely. He pulled the neck of his orange jacket even closer as a fierce wind blew through the trees, blowing his long hair into his face. His much shorter companion shrugged, ignoring the wind as it whipped against his black cloak. "Mukuro and Koenma don't know. All they know is that a large amount of demonic energy burst from her a few months ago. The youki is still there but now acts like a burning ember that only dimly glows to identify her as either youkai or apparition but not enough to get a clear reading." His red eyes glared, and a glow showed through the bandana on his forehead. "Even I can't get a good read on her Kurama."

Kurama's green eyes lost focus as he thought deeply. _-Is this girl knowingly hiding her aura or does she even know that she's a youkai…- _His vision refocused on Hiei. "Does either Koenma or Mukuro even know whether or not this girl knows she is a youkai?" Hiei shook his head, "Both Mukuro and Koenma believe this girl is unaware of being an apparition or youkai. Koenma did a background check. The girl has been leading the life of a regular ningen. Not even showing any signs of extraordinary powers." Hiei shrugged again. "Of course she could be a good actress, even better than you." Kurama looked questioningly at Hiei. Hiei rolled his eyes. "C'mon, you could have had just a 'well above average IQ' than a 'well above genius IQ'. With your intelligence, you stuck out like a sore thumb compared to all of those baka ningens." Kurama smiled. "Yes, but Kito did give me a run for my money that one time." His smile widened. "And as I recall, it was you who fell first to him, instead of our dear 'baka ningen' Kuwabara." Hiei growled as Kurama brought up one of the times that he had acted foolishly.

"Back to the mission…" He changed the subject. "We are to find this girl and watch her carefully. Mukuro and Koenma do not believe her to be a threat, but they want to be sure." Kurama nodded. "And where do we start looking?" Hiei glowered. "Where we first sensed the burst of energy. In the backwaters of the Rocky Mountains of the U.S."

Kurama out right laughed at this. A few years back Hiei had to escort a ningen that had accidental stumbled into Makai. The human happened to be American and Hiei had the displeasure of being introduced to American society. He later complained to Kurama, saying that he had thought the ningens he had met in Japan were fools, but the Americans were plain insane.

* * *

"Yusuke you jerk!" Yelled a furious woman, throwing various kitchenware at Yusuke. "OW! Calm down Keiko!" He yelled back, ducking through the doorway that led into the living room, trying to avoid the flying saucer. He failed. "Calm down! CALM DOWN!" The brunette screeched as she followed Yusuke into the living room, a frying pan in her hand. He quickly ducked behind the couch. "No I will not calm down! You are leaving on another stupid mission while I'm three months pregnant! You JERK!" She wound up and pitched. Yusuke, thinking she had paused for breathe, unfortunately peeked his head above the couch. Direct hit. He fell backwards on to the floor, seeing stars and yellow chicks. "Eeeee…." Keiko gasped, "Oh Yusuke!" She ran over to him, and knelt beside him. "Oh I'm soo sorry! I didn't mean to do that!" As Yusuke came to, he slowly sat up, "I know you didn't-" KERWHAP. His head snapped to the side as Keiko's hand connected with his cheek. "I meant to do that! You jerk!" She said again, starting to cry.

As Yusuke rubbed his red cheek, he reached over to his wife, wiping tears off of her cheek. "Hey, don't cry." He pulled her close and hugged her, caressing her hair. "I know it's not right that I'm leaving. I don't want to go either. But Koenma thinks it might be necessary for me, Kurama and Hiei to check this girl out." "Why must you go? Hiei and Kurama can manage one girl on their own." "Well…Koenma is not really afraid of the girl. He's afraid that some powerful youkai might want to get a hold of the girl. The power that she emitted was really powerful and other youkai might want to use her power for their purposes." She sniffed. "So you're acting as a guard against them." He nodded. "…As much as I hate it that you're a spirit detective, I guess you have to do your job…" Yusuke nodded. He knew how much Keiko had hated it when Koenma gave him back his job as Spirit Detective. Though she still hated it, she had come to accept it over the years, telling herself that protecting the world against demons and such was more important than staying home, yet at times like this she resented his job. Yusuke agreed with her. He would like nothing better than to stay home with his wife, and soon his child. She pulled away, wiping away her tears. "When do you leave?" "Tomorrow."

* * *

"Heeeyy! Look at these cute faces!" A tall light red haired man said, practically squealing. "Kuwabara, quit it!" Yusuke griped, pushing aside the photo that Kuwabara was shoving into his face. He, Kuwabara, Hiei, and Kurama were standing in an office with a big desk and a large flat screen TV. "But they're so cute!" Insisted the tall man, looking fondly at the picture of two little twin toddlers, one cherry-haired boy, one ice-blue haired girl, both with cherry red eyes. "I know Kuwabara, I see Ken and Sakura all the time. After all you did make me their uncle." Yusuke smiled at his friend. Kuwabara nodded. "Yes, though I wish someday they'll get to meet their real uncle." Yusuke and Kurama started to sweat as they turned to meet Hiei's piercing glare. _-I wonder what he'd say if he found out that Hiei's their uncle…- _Yusuke thought, sweating even more under the fire apparition's glare. He was just about to take the conversation back onto a safe road when a tall young man walked through the door.

"I see you all were able to make it." He said as he walked behind the large desk. "I'm sure most of you have been briefed on the upcoming mission…" Kuawabara shook his head, "Not all of us, Koenma. I haven't a clue as to why you asked me up here away from my two little rays of sunshine." He had started the sentence looking serious but it had ended with him smiling like a proud father and showing off the picture of the toddlers. Koenma sighed. "I know you haven't Kuwabara and I'll get to that later."

He turned to the big screen TV behind him and clicked a little remote that he had grabbed off the desk. A picture of a girl with indigo eyes and long blonde hair blowing in the wind flashed onto the screen. Koenma turned to the group. "This is Arissa Laine. As you all know, or well all of you except Kuwabara, a few months ago she emitted a great power." The group, minus Kuwabara, all nodded. "So far the Reikai intelligence has yet to identify it fully." Yusuke spoke up, "What do you mean by 'fully'?" "I mean that we haven't exactly identified it as whether it's demonic, human, or even Sacred energy. We think it's slightly demonic, which is why we are referring to her as probably being a demon." Kurama narrowed his eyes. "How exactly can you not know what type of energy it is?" Koenma sweated underneath the ex-thief ex-demon redhead's stare. "Well…it was masked underneath several other energies…" "Kurama, think of it this way…It's Reikai intelligence." Hiei remarked, smirking. Yusuke laughed, "Good one Hiei."

"Ahem," Koenma coughed, bringing the attention back to him. "As you might suspect, the next mission is finding this girl and identify her power. But that's not all. The strength of that burst of energy and the presence of those other energies, which we are having trouble identifying as well, leads us to believe that she has a valuable power and that other demons or even humans are hunting her for this power." He paused and looked around at the serious faces. "We also fear one other thing. If she is evil, she has the potential to become the next Toguro or even worst, the next Sensui at his best." The faces around him became hard at this statement. Everyone remembered how hard it was to defeat Toguro, but that was when their energy levels were lower. Now, though, Yusuke, Hiei, Kurama, and maybe Kuwabara could take on Toguro with moderate ease. It was the possibility of another Sensui that made them sweat. It took Yusuke dying and having his then unknown youkai blood revive him and turn him into a youkai before he came close to matching Sensui. And even then he only won because his ancestral youkai father possessing his body and fighting for him before he could beat Sensui. Sensui at his best was in the S-class energy level. At this moment, Yusuke, Hiei, and Kurama, when he transformed into Yoko, were in the S-class range, but that didn't necessarily mean they would have had an easier time beating another Sensui now.

"…Okay enough reminiscing…" The teen god said. Their eyes turned towards him. "We've managed to track the girl and isolate an area of where she could be." A click of the remote brought up an image of the Rocky Mountains in the U.S.A. He clicked again. The image zoomed in on the state of Colorado. "This is the area we have isolated." A red circle appeared on the map, encircling the two cities of Vail and Aspen and the Lake Sylvan. "Our intelligence says that she lives on a horse ranch somewhere in this area. It's safe to say that she needs to go to town every now and then to get supplies, so you might find out something in these two cities." Koenma clicked the remote one last time and the TV turned off.

He turned to the four young men in his office. "So now you know where you're going, do you have an questions." Yusuke piped up. "Yeah, when do we leave. I want to get this over with ASAP." "Right now." Yusuke started to head for the door, Hiei and Kurama following. Yusuke turned to look at Kuwabara but he shook his head and crossed his arms. "I'm not going on a goose chase that takes me that far from my family." Koenma sighed again. "No of course you're not. You weren't originally going to know much about this mission, however, I figured you were going to learn about it anyways due to someone's big mouth," His eyes glared slightly at the pink kimono clad figure that had been standing in the corner. He ignored the indignant 'I'd never!'. "Anyways, you'd be suspicious when you found out that not only Kurama, and Hiei were gone but so was Yusuke, especially since Keiko's pregnant." He smiled cheerfully. "So instead of letting you think that Yusuke had skipped outta town and ditched Keiko," He ignored the yell that resembled an 'I'd never' from the doorway. "I figured we might as well tell you." Kuwabara nodded thoughtfully, "That's true, I would have thought that." Koenma's smile disappeared as the tall man started to exit the room. "Kuwabara, that's not all. Someone is going to have to stay and protect yours, Yusuke's and Kurama's families."


	3. Chapter Two

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or it's characters. I do own Arissa and Alexia. I also own the twins.

Chapter Two

"Excuse me sir," Kurama asked an elderly man in a rocking chair outside of the local store. The old man squinted at the tall red head. "Ehh…You'll hafta speak up sonny. These ears ain't what they used to be." Kurama nodded politely and stepped closer. He held out a picture to the old man. "I was wondering if you have ever seen this girl?" He asked a bit louder. The old man took the photo and studied it. He slowly shook his head and handed the picture back. "Nope, never seen her. Sorry." Kurama nodded and left down the street, sighing. _-We've asked all around and still haven't found anything out about the girl.-_

Hiei stepped out of the shodows of a nearby building. "I take it you had no luck either." Kurama just sighed again, saying, "Let's go find Yusuke. We should head off to the next town. By the way, where is he?" Hiei just glared at Kurama. "Where do you think?" He growled. Kurama rolled his eyes.

They found Yusuke in the local bar, having a wonderful time with the local drunks. Kurama stood behind Yusuke and politely tapped him on the shoulder. Yusuke turned around and looked drunkenly at the two men behind him. "It's time to leave." Kurama said tightly. Yusuke nodded and stood up, wobbling just a bit. "Shorry fellas," He hicoughed, "But it's time for me to be a leavin'." With that he stumbled after his friends.

Once they were in the rented suv, Yusuke sobbered up quickly. He leaned forward from the back seat. "Guess what I found out?" He teased. "Would it have anything to do with the girl, or is it about how you can't seem to hold you're liquor." Hiei asked sarcasticaly. Yusuke laughed. "What can I say, I'm a good actor. And yes I did find out about the girl. They told me that she lives a few miles away from the ski resort." "Ski resort?" Hiei asked. "It's a place where you can ski." Yusuke teased. "I know what a ski resort is." Hiei retorted. "I just didn't know they had one close to here." "Yusuke," Kurama interrupted from the driver's seat, "do you know how to get there?" Yusuke nodded, chuckling. "Yeah, for drunks they sure can give directions."

* * *

"So this is the place…" Yusuke said, staring at the moderate sized ranch in a large clearing hidden deep in the woods. "It doesn't look like anybody's home." He walked over to the front porch. "I doesn't even look as if anybody's lived here for awhile." As he walked to the front door he stopped abruptly, covering his nose and mouth with his jacket sleeve. "Holy Hell! It's stinks!" Hiei walked up, scrunching his nose at the horrible smell. "I thought you liked the smell of blood and rotting corpses." Yusuke said to him. "Hn," was the only answer he got. "Oh my!" gasped Kurama from the suv. His sense of smell was far more keener than Yusuke's and Hiei's.

Hiei walked into the house, followed by a gaging Yusuke. What they saw in there was a massacre. Blood was splattered everywhere, from the ceiling to the walls and to the floor where it had pooled and coagulated in massive amounts. The blood had come from at least two adults and three children, one being an infant. Yusuke wasn't very sure but the variouse pieces of bodies they found and the amount of blood suggested it. As he stared at the infant sized hand, a sudden surge of nausea and horror ripped through him. He ran out the front door and puked. _-How could anyone do such a thing!-_ His mind drifted to Keiko and their unborn child. He ran cold, remembering why Kuwabara was staying behind. _-Please Kuwabara, protect them all with your life!- _He silently begged his old friend. As he stood up, the image of the infant's hand flashed before him again. This time rage filled him. _-I'll get the son of a bitch that did this!-_

Kurama came beside him and rested a hand on his shoulder, understanding what was going through his mind. While Yusuke had been retching, he had dared to go inside. Hiei came outside then, saying "We should look around some more, I spotted a barn in the back." Yusuke nodded. He noticed that the fire apparition, normally stoic and impassive at the sight of death, was slightly pale.

They could smell the carnage before they had even made it half way across the back yard towards the barn. Inside the barn the scene was just as bad. Blood coated the ceiling and walls. On the floor it was ankle deep. Pieces and parts of several horses were scattered everywhere.

"Senseless killing." Hiei said quietly as they left the barn. "From what I could tell in the house, nothing was taken, and there didn't seem to be any motive for killing the people." "Yes, and even more senseless in killing the horses." Kurama added. Yusuke surveyed the house. "No, there was a motive." The other two looked at him. "Whoever did this, either did it because they love killing and blood, or they did it to get at the girl…"

A rustling sound came from the woods to the side of them. Kurama turned around quickly. "That wasn't a sound from some animal!" He said as he ran into the woods, Hiei and Yusuke close behind. "Someone was watching us!"

* * *

A stampede could be heared coming down the hall, the only warning Koenma had before several ogres rushed in, led by his assistant Jorge. "Sir! Sir! Emergency! We've identified what type of youkai she is!"

* * *

They had run deeper into the woods before they even caught a glimpse of the person they were chasing. The person had long hair that once might have been gold, it was hard to tell with all the leaves and sticks and caked grime in it, and was dressed in ragged and dirty clothes. At one point they had almost caught up with the person as she, it was definitely a she, tripped over a root. However, it was only a ruse for her to dodge to the side and run in a new direction, causing the three men to back peddle and run after her.

She led a great chase through the woods. Which was why she was able to stay ahead of them, even though Hiei and Yusuke normally would have caught up with her easily. She probably knew these woods like the back of her hand, and the men did not. But soon she made a fatal error. Very soon they were out of the woods and beside a small lake with a small dock. The open area gave the men an advantage, allowing them to use their impressive speed to catch the girl.

They cornered her at the lake edge, Hiei and Kurama on her sides, and Yusuke in front of her. She started to back away from them onto the dock, as the boys moved in slowly. Yusuke guessed that this girl must be Arissa, despite the worn out look of her. She looked as if she had been spending at least the last month out in the woods. "Are you Arissa?" The girl's indigo eyes narrowed as she backed farther on the dock. Yusuke knew what she was about to do, but before he could even calm her down, the little communication compact in his jean pocket went off. That startled her and she made a run for the end of the dock. Hiei had a hold of her in a second and held her down as she struggled. Yusuke sighed and opened the compact. "What Koenma? We're kinda busy chasing after this girl." Koenma's toddler face appeared on the compact monitor. "It's about the girl! It's vital! She's a Kakou Hoshi apparition! Don't anger her or frighten her! The consequences will be a disaster!" Yusuke looked over to where Hiei and Kurama struggled with the girl. A silver glow was starting to emanate from her. "…Uh-oh…"


	4. Chapter Three

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or it's characters. I do own Arissa and Alexia. I also own the twins. I also own the Kakou Hoshi apparition, you'll learn what that means later, unless you want to go to an english-japanese website thingie and look it up.

Crazyotaku: Thanks, I'm not going to give up on this one just because I like WA and BA better. I am going to try to finish it. Hopefully by the middle of next year, what with school and trying to get a job and finish BA, I'm going to have a long time before I can really think about this one or the other one I'm starting. But again thanks for always reading.

Chapter Three

A silver glow started to radiate from the girl Hiei was holding down. The wind, which had been calm a few minutes before, suddenly raged into a small tempest. The lake surged with huge waves that crashed onto the dock and shores. The local wild life fled as the trees started to thrash to and fro. Beside him Kurama started to back away, holding his sensitive ears against the high pitched screaming that seemed to come from everywhere. Behind him Yusuke was waving his arms and trying to shout over the raging winds, thrashing trees, crashing waves and the horrible screaming.

Suddenly the girl flashed silver and an energy force shoved Hiei away from her. She started to float in the air, the silver aura enveloping her. More flashes of silver along with pink, magenta and purple shined through the cocoon like aura. With one final bright flash the aura disappeared. The small tempest around them stilled, but the scent of storm and danger remained..

Hiei gaped at what he saw. Kurama gasped. Yusuke stood slack jawed. In front of them was no longer the girl they had chased through the forest. A slim female hovered a few feet above the ground. Her long hair floated around her, no longer filthy and no longer gold. It was a light almost bubblegum pink. Her body, no longer covered in dirt or even clothed by dirty and shredded clothes, was silver with a purple sheen. Her ears had turned into long elfin ears and her hands and feet had developed sharp silver claw-like nails. Her face had developed a fae like quality, and her eyes, when she finally opened them, had turned magenta red.

She opened her mouth to show small fangs, then screamed, the screech almost musical like the ancient myths of sirens. Her scream ended and an eerie silence followed its wake. "Uh…guys…Koenma just called and said we shouldn't anger her or frighten her 'cuz there'd be a disastrous consequence…" Yusuke said, weakly laughing into the silence. The other men spared him a glance as the girl's eyes closed. "He said she was a kakou hoshi apparition." Emerald and ruby eyes widened and quickly reverted back to the floating girl. "Shit." Hiei cursed quietly.

The girl started to revolve, a small wind picking up around her. As she turned faster and faster the wind turned into a full force gale. The water under her was picked up and whirled up to the sky, a thin water tornado growing bigger. The trees were violently blown to one side, each groaning with the effort of staying rooted. The men, with no roots to latch on into the ground, where picked up by the tempest winds and thrown into the sky, tumbling end over end.

Kurama pulled a rose out of his hair and turned it into a whip. He lashed out as he came close to a sturdy tree, well, one that didn't look like it was going to be torn from its roots soon. The whip latched on and stopped his fourth go-around. He held out his free hand for the black blur that was coming his way. Hiei grabbed his friend's hand and did the same for Yusuke, who latched onto his hand in a death grip.

As one they stared at the center of the small hurricane-like storm. Inside the waterspout they could see a soft silver, purple and pink glow. They could hear a peal of bells coming from the center. Yusuke turned to the other two. "You seem to know something about kakou hoshi apparitions," he shouted at them. Hiei nodded, shouting in reply "Yes. But now isn't the time!" "Do you know how to stop this?" Yusuke yelled again. Kurama shook his head, eyes narrowing. "We can't stop it, but she'll soon wear herself down with all of the power she's using. She'll then do as Hiei does and recess into a hibernate state and the storm will stop then," he shouted.

Barely a minute after that, the storm died down, the wind stopping so abruptly that the three men floated in the air for a few seconds before they plummeted to the ground. Kurama ended up swinging down like Tarzan, Hiei did several expert acrobatics and landed on is feet, hands in the pockets of his cloak, Yusuke, not prepared for the sudden drop, landed on his face. As Yusuke got up, dusting himself off, he looked to where the other to men were staring. The girl still floated in the air, but her form was reverting back to her ningen form. Soon, there was a blonde naked girl floating in the air with her eyes closed. But that didn't last for long. In a second she was plummeting from her five story high hover.

Hiei cursed and when the other men looked at him, all that was left of him was an after image as he used his incredible speed to catch the falling girl. "Nice catch Hiei." Yusuke shouted as he turned back to see the girl safely cradled in the black clad apparition's arms. Hiei glared at him as he removed his cloak and wrapped it around the girl.

A beeping in Yusuke's jean pocket informed him of another call on the compact communicator. He answered it as Kurama ran to the girl to check for injuries. "Yeah Pacifier-Breath?" He asked casually. Koenma nearly exploded. "Don't call me that! What happened? A large burst of energy flared on our detectors where you are several minutes ago and has now suddenly disappeared," he said. Yusuke shrugged, replying "Well, the girl kinda got mad. We let her throw her temper tantrum and now she's asleep. The poor girl wore herself out with that fit." He laughed at his light joke. Koenma ground his teeth. "Take the girl to Genkai's shrine then bring her here when she wakes up." The compact beeped and the screen went dark. Yusuke sighed. He looked at the girl. _-Disastrous indeed. Shit, the girl can throw a fit. I'd hate to see how she throws a fight.-_


	5. Chapter Four

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or it's characters. I do own Arissa and Alexia. And I've said this before, in another story, before I remembered that I had another story with the twins in it, sorry, but I own the twins.

AN: Sorry, don't know the japanese name for the Dimension Sword. I'll come back later and change it once I do. I just thought that I should put this up before the few that like it go rabid and try to eat me. ;p

Chapter Four

Yusuke looked at the comatose girl laying in a room in a shrine. He looked at a short old woman wearing a purple robe. "Hey, Genkai, is she alright?" Genkai nodded. "Yes, she just depleted all of her energy." A small blue haired girl in a light blue kimono came down the hall carrying a bowl of water with wash clothes. "Hi Yukina." Yusuke said. Yukina bowed slightly. "Hello Yusuke." She replied, then she entered the room and wetted a wash cloth and placed it on the blonde girl's forehead. Yusuke sighed, "Well, since I'm no good here, I'll go talk to Hiei and find out what he knows about Kakou Hoshi apparitions." Genkai nodded.

Yusuke walked into the training room where Hiei and Kurama were discussing quietly. "Hey, Hiei. What do you know about-" Yusuke started but he was interrupted by Hiei. "I know what you're going to ask Yusuke, so don't bother aksing, now shut up and listen, I don't want to repeat myself." Yusuke nodded, telling that Hiei was irritated.

Hiei took a breath then said, "Kakou Hoshi roughly translates as 'Desended Star'. And that is exactly what a Kakou Hoshi apparition is, a fallen star. I don't mean the Ningenkai fallen star that's a meteorite, I mean actual stars, though not made of gas. They resemble something akin to a meteorite, though the shape is that of a spikey sphere and they're made of some kind of rock that is like multi colored gold. These 'stars' possess spirits, slightly demonic. When they fall to Earth, whether in the Ningenkai, or Makai, the spirits are released and then possess some type of being, usually humanoid, to live in. From what we can guess, a Kakou Hoshi fell close to Arissa's family, where ever they were living at the time, and the star spirit became the soul of the unborn Arissa. Much like the case of Kurama. I'm guessing the soul of the star stayed dormant until it's powers were needed or the girl became strong enough to change into her Kakou Hoshi form." Kurama nodded, saying "I heard rumors of these beings from the ningens. The myth was that sometimes when a star fell at the time of birth or just before the birth of someone, they would be blessed with amazing talents in things like art, dance, and some of the other fine arts." Hiei nodded, "Yes, the Kakou Hoshi tended to love the fine arts before they came to Earth and then tended to pursue their interests in their new forms, which is why they usually possess humanoid bodies."

Yukina came in. "She's waking." She said before walking to the kitchen. The men looked at each other and then headed into the room the girl was laying in. Inside Arissa was sitting up, her hand rubbing her forehead. As they slid the door open she whirled around, reaching for her knife that was no longer with her. Realizing this she rolled across the floor to the wall farthest from the three strangers. Yusuke put his hands up. "Hey, we don't mean any harm. We're friends. Or hope to be." He said in his ever joking tone. Hiei rolled his eyes. Kurama, deciding it would be best if he talked to her, walked slowly towards the frightened girl. "It's alright. We aren't going to hurt you. We've been looking for you." He knelt in front of the girl, who was holding her kimono together since she realized she didn't have a bra on. "Arissa, we're not going to hurt you. We just want you to tell us what happened three months ago."

Arissa looked at him for awhile, measuring this man and the other two up. They didn't seem threatening, despite the short man's fetish for black and his perpetual glare. In fact, they seemed sincere about what they said. She started to cry. It had been so long since she had felt safe. Kurama saw her cry and he reached out and pulled her to his chest. "Shh, it's all right. It's alright."

She cried for a good five minutes before she calmed down. She moved away from the red head. "Who are you?" She hiccuped. "I'm Kurama," The red head said, then he pointed to the tall dark haired man. "That's Yusuke, and the other one is Hiei." He finished, pointing to the short man who only 'hn'ed. He turned back to the blonde girl. "Now, Arissa, can you tell us what happened? Please, we need to know." Arissa looked at Kurama, surprised that he knew her name. "How do you know my name?" She asked. "Well..." Kurama was at a dead end, how could he explain it to the girl without frightening her. "Uh...Please tell us what happened, then we'll explain how we know who you are. Please?" Arissa nodded reluctantly.

Her eyes unfocused as she delved into the memories of three months prior. "I had been swimming in the lake. My little sister, Alex, had come to tell me she was going to tell on me, then she ran back to the house. I was about to chase after her when I heard a scream. I dashed into the woods but had to slow down so I didn't trip. Then..." She started to shake. "Then I heard something behind me. When I turned I saw dead eyes...evil eyes..." She was shaking so badly now it looked as if she would fall apart. Kurama quickly brought her back to his chest, holding her tightly as she began to cry again.

After several minutes she talked again. "I don't remember what happened after that, I only remember dimly of seeing the house and the stables but I didn't go in, it was too quiet and there was an odd smell, I was scared. Then I ran. I ran and survived on my own in the woods. I couldn't think of running away from my home, but I couldn't be near it either. I didn't know what to do. Then you came. I remember running from you and then ending up at the lake, then I woke up here." She looked up at the man that was holding her. "What happened?" Kurama sighed. This was going to be hard to explain.

Hiei decided he might as well move this conversation along. He pulled off his bandana, showing a third eye. Arissa gasped and crouched against Kurama. "Shh...It's alright. He's a good guy. He's just trying to make the conversation easier." He whispered. She huddled closer to him, unsure of what to make of the short dark haired man.

Hiei pulled the bandana back on as Yusuke bent down towards the girl. "Hiei's a fire apparition. You see, there are things called youkai and apparitions. You would know them as 'demons'. But there are good demons and bad demons. Hiei here, well, he rides the line. Don't you Short Stack?" He joked at the short man. "Hn," Was his reply. Kurama ignored the two and started to explain better than the half youkai. "The place where they usually reside is in Makai, another world that is connected to Earth. Where we are is refered to as the Ningenkai. There's a third world, Reikai. That is the world where spirits live. You would think of it as Heaven. It's where King Enma and his son Koenma, gods, live. There they rule over beings known as ferry-onnas or the pilots of the River Styx. The River Styx is-" "I know what the River Styx is. I studied Latin, and am into Roman and Greek mythology." She said distractedly. "Um, why do I have the feeling we're not talking in english?" Yusuke laughed, "Well... We're talking in japanese. Koenma had done something to make it to where you could talk and understand japanese and we could talk and understand english. It's like some kinda shot." He shrugged. Arissa looked shocked and angry. "So, while I've been out somebody has been messing with me!" Kurama shook his head, trying to calm the angry girl, "It wasn't harmful to you. The only reason we did it while you were asleep was because we didn't think you would trust us if we started to come at you with a needle and speaking in a foreign tongue."

Hiei heard the wind kick up outside as the elements were affected by the girls anger. _-The girl doesn't know how to control her powers. I guess during those three months the weather must have been hectic.-_ He thought, watching the girl closely. As he looked at her something niggled at the back of his mind, like a distant memory long hidden, supressed by will and subconciousness. He shook his head, dispelling the thoughts and ignoring the memory trying to reemerge.

After Kurama had calmed the girl down, he continued. "There's also one other thing that's important specifically to you. There are beings known as Kakou Hoshi apparitions. They're, well..." He thought for a moment how to explain them in a shorter and easier way to understand than Hiei had done. After a moment he spoke again. "You know about stars, of how they're made up of gas, and how falling or shooting stars are actually meteorites or meteoroids. Well, there are 'stars' that are actually living beings, with souls. They look like a shiny metalic 'star' the kind that artists draw, with the many points. Are you following me so far?" He asked. Arissa nodded. "Well, when these 'stars' fall onto the Earth, whether in Ningenkai or Makai, their souls are released. They then inhabit a body, usually a newborn or an unborn child. Mostly the body is humaniod, this way they can pursue their interests in the fine arts. This led to the belief that sometimes a child that was born shortly before or shortly after a star fell they were then blessed with amazing talent in the fine arts. These beings are then called Kakou Hoshi apparitions. Normally the soul of the star stays dormant until the person is strong enough to control their powers or if the powers of the star is needed. Did I lose you?" He asked as he noticed the odd expression on her face. She shook her head. "No, but I think I know where you're going with this. Mom told me that she had seen a shooting star the night I was born, about a few minutes before she felt the first contraction." She paused, "Am I a Kakou Hoshi apparition?" She asked, though she already knew the answer. Kurama nodded. She opened her mouth to say something else but then closed it.

Kurama started to talk again, "Three months ago, Reikai intelligence noticed a huge reading of power where you lived. They also noticed other strange auras where you lived. Koenma wasn't sure about those but he was positive that you were the one that emitted the blast of power. He then sent us when the Reikai intelligence could no longer find you. When we found where you lived..." He paused, unsure of what to say to her about the inside of the house and the barn. "Everyone was dead." He said simply. The girl sat still, tears coming to her eyes. They sat in silence for awhile before she could compose herself to talk. "I..I think I knew that, but I didn't want to believe it so I stayed away from the house. I guess the horses are dead too." Kurama nodded.

He continued, "When you ran from us and we caught you, you panicked. You're true form, your kakou hoshi form, came out. Kakou Hoshi have power over elements, and the elements are strongly affected by the emotions of a kakou hoshi. When you panicked your emotions set off a powerful miniture hurricane on the lake. Without control over your powers you quickly used up your energy and passed out. Then we brought you here." "What is this place?" She asked, looking around at the pallet on the floor and the sliding door. The room was pretty bare. "You're in the shrine of Genkai, a powerful psychic." Kurama said. Arissa nodded, as if she knew who Genkai was. She started to stand but a wave of dizzyness hit her. Kurama caught her as she fell down. "We had orders to take you to Reikai once you woke up but I think you'll have to stay here and we can tell Koenma about what you said ourselves." He said gently as he carried her to her bed. Arissa nodded and fell immediately to sleep even before Kurama finished tucking her in. Kurama smiled gently as he and the others left the room. Hiei saw the smile and his eyes narrowed.

* * *

"...And that's all she remembers." Kurama finished. He and the other two demonic detectives stood in Koenma's office. Kurama, being the one that could give a report without resorting to slang or using an irritated tone, had been telling Koenma everything they had found out about Arissa and what had happened three months ago. Koenma sat behind his desk, his color returning after Kurama finished. He had turned visibly green when Kurama had told him about what they had found in the house and barn then he turned white when he heard about the dead eyes. His imagination had decided to run wild at what the eyes could have looked like and who or what they belonged to. He sighed and said, "Well, I guess it's a start. It's marginally better than trying to find out what those energies were without any information. I guess I'll have to join the search for info in the archives. I hate that place. Too much dust." He looked at the three youkai, only one of which was fully youkai. "I guess you're dismissed. And Hiei, you're to stay in Ningenkai until this mission is over." Koenma said. The fire apparition glared but stayed silent. Secretly he wanted to stay near the kakou hoshi, for what reason he couldn't fathom. 

Koenma sighed. "Well, I guess the sooner I start, the sooner I can finish. Oh hell." He got up and yelled for Jorge, the blue ogre that was constantly at his side, though he almost never called him 'Jorge', just 'Ogre'. "Yes Koenma sir?" The blue ogre asked nervously. He was still in trouble for what he did at the last tournament for king in Makai. Since it's begining about twelve years ago there had been four tournaments to decide who would be king of all of Makai The three demonic detectives participated (and lost) in each and he, Koenma and Koenma's lead ferry-onna, the blue haired Botan, attended in disguises. Last tournament, two years ago, he had made a spectacle when he stole the mike from the announcer, the female fox apparition named Koto, and did a rap. Shaking his head of the memory of getting whacked by both Koenma and Botan, he turned his attention back to the teen god. Koenma walked out of his office, motioning for the ogre to follow, and headed to the large catacombs that held all the records of Reikai and some other miscellaneous books, such as cook books and the like.

"What are we looking for Koenma sir?" Jorge asked. Koenma didn't look back at him as he headed to the 'horror' section. "Beings with 'dead eyes'." Jorge paused, waiting for more details. After awhile he asked, "Uh sir, I think you forgot to give the rest of the details..." "Nope, we just know they have dead eyes." Jorge fell to the ground on his face. Koenma looked down at him from his pech on the ladder. "Well, don't just lay there. Get started!"

* * *

"Hellooo!" A cheery voice called from somewhere. Arissa opened her eyes and sat up. She looked groggily around, wondering at the strange surroundings. Then memory hit her. She was in the shrine of some psychic named Genkai. Three men had brought her here, the red haired Kurama, the joking Yusuke, and the fire apparition Hiei. She looked down at her self. Her body hadn't changed, not from what she could tell. Yet she knew they were telling her the truth about her being a Kakou Hoshi apparition. 

Again she heard the cheery voice, this time coming closer, and two other voices were with her. Deciding to check it out, she got to her feet clumsily. She still felt pretty tired. She slid the door open and peeked her head out. Three women stood down the hall, conversing. One was a mousy brown haired woman dressed in a beige sweater and a long brown skirt, the other two were, shockingly, blue haired. One had her hair up in a ponytail and was wearing a pink shirt, a brown vest and blue jeans. The other had her hair in two braids and was dressed in a blue blue dress with a white shirt under it. They heard the door slide open and looked towards her. "Um...sorry." Arissa appologized. The tallest one, the blue haired in the vest, shook her head. "No, you didn't do anything wrong." She said, identifying her voice as the cheery one she heard. She practically bounced towards her and stuck out her hand. "Hello, my name's Botan!" She said cheerily, pink eyes friendly. Arissa shook her hand. "My name's Arissa." The other two came up to them. The other blue haired woman bowed. "Hello, my name is Yukina, I'm pleased to see that you're awake." When she stood back up Arissa saw kind red eyes. The mousy woman came over, her brown eyes as friendly as the other two. "Hello, I'm Keiko. Pleased to meet you." Arissa nodded to them, then turned to Botan and Yukina. "Um, is your hair naturally blue and is that your natural eye color?" The two nodded. "Are you two demons?" Botan shook her head but Yukina nodded. "I am a koorime, an ice apparition." Yukina said. "And I'm the cheif pilot of the River Styx!" Botan piped. Arissa nodded again then turned to Keiko, "Are you a demon too or human? Sorry if it's impolite." Keiko smiled. "I'm fully human, or as the youkai say 'ningen'. My husband however, is half youkai, mazoku as they call him. Sometimes I don't know if it's the youkai blood in him or if he's just a plain idiot, what with the things he does." She said the last part rather irritatedly. Botan and Yukina smiled. "Yusuke's a youkai?" She asked shocked. She decided to start using their word for demons.

Arissa felt a draft and pulled her kimono closer. Botan noticed then she made an odd sound as she snapped her fingers. "I remember why we came! We came to see if you wanted to go shopping. After all, the only thing you were wearing when the boys carried you here was Hiei's cloak. We managed to find you a pair of panties that fit, but we don't have any bras that fit you." Arissa started blushing when Botan said that the only thing she was wearing was Hiei's cloak. _-Does she mean that those men saw me naked! But they're so much older than me. Some people would call me jail bait!-_ Keiko saw the girl's horrified look. "Oh, don't worry, they're gentlemen, even Yusuke." She then reached into the tote bag she was carrying and brought out some clothes. "Here, you can have these, in a few months I won't be able to fit into them so someone might as well wear them." She said laughingly, her hand resting on her tummy. Arissa smiled, "Thanks, and congratulations." She said as she disappeared into the room.

When she came out she was dressed in blue jeans and a white button up shirt. The women had already gone shopping for the essentials because there were new bras, socks and panties in the bundle of clothes that consisted of three pairs of jeans, a pink t-shirt, a blue sweater, a green turtle neck and a pair of tennis shoes. Luckily she remembered having heard from one of her city friends about animes and what they've learned of the japanese culture from them so she knew not to wear the shoes in the house. She said her thanks as they walked through the shrine. She looked around, impressed. The shrine was big with many rooms, most of which had the signs of being occupied or at least reserved for occupants. "Who all lives here?" She asked. "Genkai, myself, my husband Kazuma and occassionally Hiei when he's in Ningenkai. Also, there are six other youkai that spend time here training." Yukina replied. "There are alot of youkai here. I thought they lived in Makai." Arissa said as they reached a large room with a statue. Botan shrugged, "Well, that's where most of them live. Every now and then some might escape into Ningenkai for whatever reason. Yukina here came to find her brother. Hiei came here thinking to rule the humans, mostly youkai call humans ningens, he, Kurama and a youkai named Goki came here after stealing three powerful artifacts from Reikai. Don't take it wrong, Kurama stole one of them to save his dying human mother."

Arissa's eyes widened, "You mean Kurama's a youkai too?" Botan nodded. "But his situation for being here is a bit tricky. He used to be full youkai, kitsune, or fox apparition, to be exact. He was a nortorious thief in Makai, the king of thieves. Twenty-nine years ago he botched a raid and was chased by one of the Spirit Defense Force officers, the 'police' of Reikai. His body was mortaly wounded. His soul managed to escape into the womb of a human mother. And now he's half human half youkai. He had originally planned to go back to Makai when he had gathered enough energy, but then he came to love his mother and stayed. That wasn't the case with Hiei, he was determined to go back 'home'. But then Yusuke caught him when Yusuke was barely fourteen and he was tried in Reikai and sentenced to probation in the Ningenkai. He had been there for almost a year when we really needed his help and I had to make a deal with him, I would convince Koenma to cut Hiei's probation to time served if Hiei would help us. So he did." Arissa went silent as she thought about what they had talked about.

"Why didn't he go home?" She asked after awhile. Yukina answered her. "Well, up until fourteen years ago there was a barrier called the Kekai barrier. It seperated the two worlds, keeping youkai of class A and Class S from crossing between the two worlds." Botan nodded and took up the story, "By the time Hiei was released from probation, he was close to A-class. The only thing was that there were no portals opened to Makai for him to cross over. Then a man named Sensui created a tunnel to Makai. Yusuke and the rest of the Reikai Tantei had to battle him. Yusuke, Kuwabara and Kurama were fighting him to close it but I think that deep down Hiei was fighting him so that he could get into the tunnel. During the fight however, Kurama and Hiei boosted up into A-class. So he couldn't get through. Kuwabara, however, has a reiki weapon called the Dimension Sword that was able to cut through dimensions and the Kekai barrier. At that time they were chasing Sensui into Makai to get revenge on him for killing Yusuke, so Kuwabara cut the barrier and they went into Makai. The barrier hasn't been the same since. There are flaws in it that occasionally let youkai of any level pass through, like Hiei, who is now an S-class apparition." She finished. Arissa wondered if the bouncy woman had even taken a breath while she spoke.

Again Arissa muled over what she had learned then came up with two questions. "What's these levels and what do you mean Yusuke died? I just saw him. Or is he a ghost?" Keiko laughed. "No, Yusuke died when he was fourteen but his death was sudden and Koenma gave him a second chance at life. Then he was killed by Sensui but it turned out that Yusuke is the Atavism of the Mazoku. He had youkai blood in his veins and the youkai blood, as the name says, genetically reapeared after several generations in Yusuke. So his youkai blood brought him back and now he's half youkai." She said. Yukina explained the youkai class. "The levels we were talking about is a system of identifying the power levels of youkai and apparitions. The classes range from the weakest, E-class, to D-class, then C-class, next B-class, the strongest class that could pass through the Kekai barrier. The next two levels is A-class, extremely strong, then S-class, the strongest class. Though mind, just because two people are in the same class doesn't mean their powers are equal." Botan nodded then looked at her watch. She jumped, "Oh my, look at the time. We should be off to beat the crowds. C'mon girls." She said, rushing them out the large door were they put their shoes on.


	6. Chapter Five

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or it's characters. I do own Arissa and Alexia. And I've said this before, in another story, before I remembered that I had another story with the twins in it, sorry, but I own the twins.

AN: I actually listen to this music! And I want to know how many can say 'existentialism'. I can, but after stuttering several times. Talk about a tongue twister of one word, not even repeating!

Chapter Five

Arissa walked through town with the women. She listened to the three talk about various things, Yukina's twin babies, Keiko's and Yusuke's arguments over baby names, something Koenma said, the recent large amounts of deaths. This last picked her interest and she listened closely. "Well, from what Ayame reported last time I heard from her was that the England district's amount of unplanned deaths has risen by twelve percent. I know that might be a small number, and might be overlooked but not when other districts are experiencing the same spikes of UPD's. Why China's UPD rate went up be twenty-three percent. I tell you, I don't know what is going on. Nor does Koenma I'm afraid." Botan babbled as they walked into an ice cream shoppe.

She was about to say something else but was stopped by Keiko when the brunette spoke up, "Well, what do you girls want? My treat." She said, motioning to the menu. Botan nodded, taking the hint that she was babbling too freely about Reikai business around so many humans. "I think I'll have two scoops of chocolate." She said. "And I'll have a scoop of mint chocolate." Yukina said. Keiko looked at Arissa, "And what will you have Arissa?" She asked kindly. Arissa looked at the sign but couldn't read it. Apparently the 'shot' didn't help her _read_ japanese. "Um...I'll have two scoops of mint chocolate." She said. She wasn't really in the mood for just chocolate, but she didn't know what else they had. Keiko nodded and turned to the man behind the counter. "I need a two-scoop chocolate cone, a single-scoop mint chocolate cone, a two-scoop mint chocolate cone and a two-scoop rocky road cone please." She ordered. The man nodded and rang up the amount. Keiko paid him and moved to the side to let others order as the man turned to a teen beside him and told him to get their order while he took the other customers.

When the girls were again walking outside eating their ice creams Keiko looked at Arissa. "Well, we have the practical clothes for you, jeans, shirts, and underthings, but now I think it's time we get you somethings you're interested in. It's been awhile since I was teen but I remember how I was into clothes that I like to wear and show off. Sure they weren't the styles of today, but I'm sure every girl is the same." She smiled, "So what type of clothes are you into?" Arissa didn't pause, "There was a store back there that sold clothes that I like." She said, pointing behind them, but then she grimaced and said, "But I don't want to spend so much money, the clothes I like are usually expensive and I've spent so much money already." Keiko smiled, "That's no problem." Botan nodded. "Koenma's paying for this so I say we take full advantage of it. Personally, I like to cause a dent in his emense amount of money, purely for the times he pisses me off. Like lately. He should have immediately sent the boys to look for you the moment you displayed your power. Honestly, I don't see why he didn't think it might be too dangerous to send anyone else besides Yusuke and the guys." She rambled on as they walked to the store that had caught Arissa's eye.

The women were shocked before they even entered the store. In the dispay window stood a mannequin dressed in a black tube top, a fishnet shirt, green plaid jeans with chains running from the front belt loops to connect at the back belt loops, leather cuffs and a spikey studded leather choker. Next to it were several boots. Thin high heeld knee high boots, thick three inch soled calf high boots that buckled up and other typs. "Well, now, I'd definately say the teen fashion sense has changed from when you were a teen Keiko." Botan said. The brunette nodded. Arissa turned to them. "I usually wore this type of clothing when I was out with my friends, they're usually dress up clothes for the town, at home I wore t-shirts, jeans and tennis shoes. I was thinking of getting some of my out-on-the-town clothes. Please?" Botan laughed. 'You don't have to ask. Go on ahead." Arissa smiled and ran into the store.

When they came out of the store, Arissa had green plaid pants, no chains, leather boots with thick soles that reached up to above her ankles, several black shirts, some with writting on them, like 'PARADISE' in sparkely beads across the breasts, a fishnet shirt, black jeans that had white stars on them, a studded leather belt, black pants that looked to have been sprinkled with shiny fairy dust and accessories such as black leather wrist cuff, hematite necklace, several black and purple plastic bracelettes, and a steel ball choker. Keiko looked through the bags, "Well, at least it wasn't too drastic. I don't see any dark make-up." Arissa smiled. "I tend to keep make up to a bare minimal, just neutral tones and no lipstick."

She tilted her head when she heard some hard music. She turned to the women. "Will that music store," She pointed to a store across the street, "Have any other music besides japanese?" She asked. Keiko shrugged. "Probably not, at least probably not 'your' music if I'm guessing right about what you listen to from the clothes." Arissa's shoulders drooped. Botan cheered her up. "I can probably get the music you want, and get you a cd player while I'm at it. How does that sound?" Arissa nodded happily.

As they walked back to the shrine Arissa began to hope that now her life would go back to being a little normal.

* * *

Hiei sat in his favorite tree, thinking about the mission, the bloody house, and the girl. Something about her stirred an ancient memory, one he was sure he didn't want to remember, whatever the reasons. Another thing bothered him, what she said she had seen the day she displayed her power. _-Dead eyes...Dead eyes. Why does that ring a bell?-_ He pondered.

"What troubles you Hiei?" Came a voice from below. Hiei looked down at the green eyed kitsune. Kurama had seen his short companion's reactions to the girl and what she said. "What is it about her that has you perched up in this tree deep in thought instead of sleeping?" He slightly teased. Hiei had a lazy streak when he wasn't up to his 'tricks', the occasional thieving, fighting or patroling the boundary between Makai and Ningenkai.

"Hn." Hiei replied. He wasn't one to speak his thoughts on request. If he wanted his opinion or thoughts known he'd say them, regardless what anyone might think about it. This time, he didn't speak them because he really wasn't sure what they were.

Kurama looked up at the fire apparition for a few more seconds before he shrugged and leaned against the tree. "What she said about the dead eyes struck a nerve. I think I might have heard something similar in my past life. I can't recall where or what the details were. It's almost like a ghost of a memory." He shrugged again. "Hopefully Koenma can find something about these beings. In the mean time, I think we should start to train her. She needs to learn to control her powers. We might have to ask Jin and Touya to come and help. But I think all she needs to learn is how to control her emotions and maybe if she learns how to control one element she'll figure out to control the others. I'm sure somewhere deep down she already knows how to." He looked up. "How about it. She needs it." "Hn," Was the reply, this time it had the ringing of 'okay'. Kurama smiled, after all these years he had learned to distinguish the meanings of Hiei's trade mark reply.

* * *

The next day Arissa was sitting in a small room with the three women, listening to them talk, when Kurama came in. "Excuse me ladies. Arissa, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind Hiei and myself training you to control your powers?" He asked politely. Arissa thought about it, then nodded. "I guess."

He led her outside where Hiei was waiting along with the elderly Genkai. "I thought I might as well help the girl, since you two have never taught some one in harnessing their powers." Genkai said. Kurama sweated, and rubbed his head. "Well, I thought I might be able to teach her the way I taught myself." Genkai shook her head. "The only thing you taught yourself was how to use your plant manipulation offensively. You already knew how to control your powers. This girl doesn't." She turned to Hiei. "The same goes for you. I don't think you two will be needed as teachers just yet. I think the only thing you could teach her now would be how to fight." Hiei just 'hn'ed while Kurama nodded. "Very well." He and Hiei left.

Genkai turned to the blonde. "Now, how about we start by meditating." She then led the girl into the big room and closed all the doors, pitching the room into darkness. Soon, however, it was illuminated by a few small candles. Genkai took a seat on one cushion of several in the big room. She motioned for Arissa to sit in front of her. Arissa sat on her knews like Genkai. "Now, close your eyes and empty your mind. It's harder than it sounds, though. We'll train only in this until you can empty your mind without trying to." Genkai rasped out as she closed her eyes. Arissa took her lead and tried to empty her mind. After awhile she sighed, _-The lady is right. It is harder than it sounds.-_ She stretched and went at it again.

* * *

That night she sat at the dinner table stiffly. She had sat in the same position almost all day except for the times that she was allowed to stretch and wake up her sleeping legs. She wasn't sure what was more painful, the headache she had gotten from concentrating to empty her mind or the sharp pins and needles that ran up her legs everytime she moved. Even now she felt the sharp tickly pain that made her want to laugh and cry at the same time. She pretty much ate in silence, not even really paying attention to the conversation. That is not until Botan popped in. She had left shortly after Arissa started to train.

"Arissa! Guess what! I've got you the stuff I promised!" The bubbly woman said as she handed Arissa a bag of cd's. Arissa quickly looked through the bag, 3 Doors Down, Bon Jovi, Breaking Benjamin, Cold, Crossfade, Collective Soul, and Disturbed just to name a few. She squealed and hugged the ferry onna tightly. "Thank you Botan!" Botan laughed. "You're nearly squeazing me to death now, I'm afraid how you'll react once you see what's in your room." Arissa let her go and dashed to her room.

Inside was a large sound system, surround sound speakers, a Sirius radio, and most importantly, a large multi-cd player, able to hold twenty cd's at once. She screamed this time, causing Hiei, who had been snoozing in a tree nearby, to use his amazing speed to come to her side, sword drawn. "What is it!" He asked, then he noticed the jumping girl practically hugging the sound system. She turned happy eyes to him. "Look!" She squealed, pointing to her sound system. Hiei just stared at the girl, then he growled, sheathed his sword, and stormed out, cursing music loving kakou hoshi apparitions. The others laughed as they came to the room to see the girl sifting through her bag of cd's. It was a rather large bag. Kurama turned to Botan. "How many cd's did you and Koenma get her?" He asked. Botan paused, then answered cheerfully. "Thirty-eight regular cds and one compilation of various singles." The others sweated at this. Botan rubbed her head, "Well, Koenma and I want her to be happy, especially after what she went through. We'll do whatever it takes to make her happy, even if it means rapidly depleating Koenma's allowence." She paused then jumped. "Oh I forgot!" She dug into one of her sleeves of her pink kimono and came out with a large black cd holder. "Arissa, this is for you to hold your cds." She said as she handed it to the golden haired girl. Arissa jumped up and hugged Botan again, tears in her eyes. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She chanted. Botan smiled and gently disentangled herself from the teenager. "Now, how about we leave you to go through you bag of treasures." She said as she walked out of the room. Arissa squealed as she went back to the bag. The others followed Botan's lead.

* * *

Arissa sighed as she went over the list she had compiled.

_Arissa's Music: (38 cds, 1 compilation)_

_3 Doors Down _

_10 Years_

_AFI_

_Bon Jovi_

_Breaking Benjamin_

_Cold_

_Collective Soul_

_Crossfade_

_Dave Matthews Band_

_Default_

_Disturbed_

_Element Eighty_

_Evanescence_

_Goo Goo Dolls_

_Hinder_

_Hoobistank_

_Incubus_

_Lacuna Coil_

_Linkin Park_

_Live_

_Mudvayne_

_Mindless Self Indulgence_

_No Address_

_Nonpoint_

_Pearl Jam_

_Powerman 5000_

_Prom Kings_

_Rammstein_

_Sarah Mclachlan_

_Savage Garden_

_Seether_

_Soil_

_Submersed_

_Switchfoot_

_System Of A Down_

_Theory Of A Deadman_

_Train_

_Trapt_

_Vertical Horizon_

_Compilation:_

_40 Below Summer (Breathless)_

_10,000 Maniacs (Because The Night)_

_Earshot (Wait)_

_Fall Out Boy (Sugar, We're Going Down)_

_Hawthorn Hieghts (Ohio Is For Lovers)_

_Life House (Hanging By A Moment)_

_Oasis (Champaign Supernova)_

_Skillet (Savior)_

_Social Distortion (Reach For The Sky)_

_Straylight Run (Existentialism On Prom Night)_

_Taking Back Sunday (This Photograph Is Proof (I Know You Know))_

_Thousand Foot Krutch (Move)_

She had put all the cd's in order in the cd folder, along with their booklet. The compilation cd was put in the back with a paper that had the list of music on the cd. She was very happy with her music. _-Now maybe I can dance.-_ She thought, then looked at her small room. _-But I'll need a bigger space to dance. Maybe there's a small clearing outside that I could dance in. But that would mean asking for a battery opperated boom box.-_ She thought for awhile. _-I really don't want to ask for anything more, and I also really don't want everybody to know I dance. They might want to watch and I get embarrassed and shy when people watch. Maybe if I pulled Botan aside and asked her privately? I think I'll try that.-_ She sighed and stretched. "But right now I have to get to sleep. I think I'll have sweeter dreams tonight with some music." She shuffled through her folder and brought out her Vertical Horizon, Evanesence, Lacuna Coil, Savage Garden and Train cds and put them into the player and turned on the system with the volume low. She sighed as Vertical Horizon's "We Are" filtered through the speakers into the small room. Listening to the music brought memories of better days to her as she laid down and drifted to sleep.


	7. Chapter Six

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or it's characters. I do own Arissa and Alexia. And I own the twins.

Warning: Hints of slavery, the worst part of it for girls. Don't read if you don't want to know!

AN: I don't know the name of the boss of the bandits that 'adopt' Hiei so I'll give him a name.

Chapter Six

Four days later Genkai dismissed Arissa early, saying "Good job, you're learning faster than I expected of a first timer." The old lady said. "I think you've earned yourself a break. Go on." She said, motioning for Arissa to leave.

Arissa bowed then quickly took the golden opprotunity and rushed to her room. Once there she changed into some new clothes she had asked Botan to buy along with the portable boom box that was now resting in a corner of her room. After she was dressed in the black tight fitting shirt with the arms that reached to her elbows and the black spandex pants that reached to her calves, she grabbed the boom box, quickly put a cd in it and rushed outside, picking up her black tennis shoes on the porch.

Once outside she looked around, trying to find a suitable place to dance without having to worry about being spied on. She didn't find one but she did find a trail into the forest. Hoping she would find a grove she took the small dirt path, leaving the temple.

Hiei saw her head into the forest. Knowing that random youkai lived there, he thought it wise to follow the girl to keep her safe.

Arissa traveled several minutes before she happened on a large grove. "Perfect." She said as she sat the boom box on the ground. She went through her warm up stretches then bent down and messed with the cd player, programing it to play a certain song then she pressed 'play'.

Arissa took in a breath and stood in her beginning stance. Suddenly Train's "Drops of Jupiter" blared out of the radio. Arissa leaped and twirled to the music, pulling out all the stops from classical dance moves, like jettes and pirouettes, to acrobatics, like handless cartwheels, and her own moves.

Hiei watched the girl dance, again that faint memory stirring. _"Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day, dance along the light of day..."_ Hiei's eyes narrowed as the girl leaped to land twirling, her leg up behind her, almost posing like a ballerina. The song and her dancing were waking that long repressed memory despite Hiei's attempts to repress it even further.

As the song ended Arissa stopped in a pose, feet in the fifth position, back arched backwards, head raised to the sky, and arms wide, bent at the elbow and slightly raised to the sky. Hiei's eyes narrowed even further as the memory came back to him full force. _-But I thought she had 'risen' back to the stars. How can she be back?-_ Hiei contemplated this as the girl started to dance to another song.

* * *

That evening Kurama came by, Hiei caught him before he could step inside the temple. "Kurama, I need to talk to you," he said. Kurama nodded and followed the fire apparition into the forest.

After several minutes walking the two paused in a small open area. "What is it Hiei? I can tell something heavy is on your mind." Kurama said after awhile. Hiei sighed and looked up at the darkening sky. "I met a kakou hoshi apparition before, several decades ago." He said quietly. Kurama waited for him to continue. Hiei sighed again. "Her name was Larissa. She looked almost exactly like Arissa's demonic form. I met her one night while I was about to pull a heist..."

_/Hiei looked down at the large castle. -Feh...the security is pathetic.- He thought, smiling. -It should be easy pickings.- "Do you like my master's castle?" A quiet melodic voice asked behind him. Hiei hardly jumped to show his surprise and shock at someone being able to sneak up on him. He turned around slightly to see a petite silver skinned girl, probably early teens, with long light pink hair and magenta eyes staring at him innocently. His eyes narrowed as he took in her skimpily clad form. She was in nothing but pink guaze, gauzy leggings and a small pink sheer breast band with gauze sleeves attached. Very skimpy clothing for mid winter. "Who are you? And aren't you cold?" His voice was unusually soft. Normally his reply would be scathing if he did give a reply before he killed the one that snuck up on him. But something in the girl's eyes caught at his heart and squeezed out what ever gentleness he had in it. The girl nodded emphatically, then her eyes widened in shock and she shook her head. "Nno. No! I am just fine sir. I need nothing. I have everything I want!" She said hastily. Hiei's eyes narrowed further. She had sounded as if that responce was an ingrained reply. He then noticed the faint scars on her body and the fading bruises. "Are you a slave?" He asked quietly. The girl shook her head. "No, I am a dancer for my master. He treats me well!" She said hurridly as she noticed Hiei's scowl. "Tell the truth! He beats you doesn't he?" The girl started to shake, "Please sir, don't hurt me! I'll do what you ask! Are you a friend of my master's? I will preform the honor of taking your bed! My master grants the courtesy to all his friends! Just don't tell him I met you here! I'll even accommodate you here!" She cried as she started to take off her clothes. Hiei growled and took of his cloak and wrapped it around the girl. "No! I'm not a friend of your 'master'. I'm here to take you away from that monster!" Thoughts of stealing any treasure from the castle vanished and only thoughts of torture to the bastard that exploited this child swarmed through his head._

_Against the girl's protests Hiei vanished. Soon she heard screaming ring from the castle from several voices. The screaming lasted for thirty minutes before it stopped. The girl held her breath and a split second later the dark man was by her side again. She shrunk away from the blood spattered man. Hiei's eyes softened, "Don't be afraid." He whispered gently. "You're free now. That monster's dead. You can go home." The girl started to cry, not sure of what to make of the term 'free'. Hiei knelt next to her and held her as she sobbed. After a while he asked her, "What's your name?" "Larissa." Hiei smiled, "That's a beautiful name. How old are you?" Larissa stiffened. "I don't know exactly, only that I've been with my master since I was young for ten years. I overheard him say he found me when I was a toddler." -That would make her at the most fourteen.- Hiei thought, glaring some more and wishing he had inflicted more torture on the bastard youkai. -Thirty-nine years younger than me.- He looked down at the quivering girl in his arms. He remembered having been on his own as a young child, but he had reached A-class by the age of five and didn't have to worry about predators that would take advantage of a young child, he also had the bandits. But this child was completely defenseless, her energy level barely registered as D-class and the bastard that he had just killed registered as B-class. He sighed, vowing to himself to protect this girl from anymore harm. "Come, let's get away from this place and get you some proper clothing." Larissa looked up at him. "Thank you master, I will do all that you ask of me." Hiei stiffened and pushed the girl away from him and held her at arm's length. "No! You obey no master, you follow no orders that you don't want to. You now have a choice in all that you do. If I do 'ask' you to do anything it will only be for your health and protection. You no longer have to subject yourself to anyone's whims, especially men. Understand?" He said, half angrily. She nodded though Hiei could see the confusion in her eyes. He sighed. "Don't worry, I'll take care of you."_

_They traveled to his 'family's' lair. A blue troll stood guard at the entrance, his large club at the ready. His beady eyes widened when he saw Hiei walk out of the forest carrying a small girl. "Hiei? Who's that?" He asked. Hiei walked past him, "Someone who needs our protection. Tell Krissi that she needs clothing. I'll be with the boss." The troll nodded and yelled at a young rat youkai running past down the hall._

_"So Hiei, I hear that you've put someone under the protection of bandits without my approval." The large youkai said as Hiei laid the sleeping girl on the large pallet in the corner of the central room reserved for the boss of the bandits. "Hn, it was needed. You would have given her protection if you had met her the same way I had." He said. Shou just shook his head and came to look at the girl. She was wrapped tightly against the cold in Hiei's cloak, only the top of her head could be seen. Shou gently opened the cloak and nodded his head when he saw her. "Yes, I actually was planning a rescue mission for the girl. I guess the castle caught your attention and you decided to drop in for a profitable 'visit'?" He asked dryly. Hiei gave him a quizzical look. "What do you mean 'rescue mission'?" Shou sighed as he gently tucked the girl under the numerous skins used for blankets. "A few days ago a man came to us and told us about a castle that had a young girl and the master of the castle was selling her body. Lucky for us, well for her, the man that talked to us was honorable and wanted to get the girl out." Shou paused. "He seemed to act outraged at the treatment of the girl, more so than you would expect. Come to think of it, he looked like her, his skin and hair that is. I've never seen an apparition like him before. And I had completely forgotten to ask him. He paid us great money to get her out." He clapped Hiei on the shoulder, "Good job little tyke. I can safely assume that you killed everyone in the castle?" He laughed at Hiei's glare. "Wouldn't you?" Hiei asked. Shou nodded, "Yes I would, remember, I have a daughter out there somewhere. I'll treat this girl like I treat Sara. Now I think I'll go get food. Hungry?"_

_It took several weeks for the girl to become used to the new 'freedom'. Hiei every now and then heard that she would sometimes offer to 'preform the honor' of having sex with someone that did her a nice thing. With the help of the rest of the bandits Hiei was slowly teaching the girl the meaning of 'freedom'. Hiei stayed close to Larissa, teaching her other things besides 'freedom'. He taught her how to read and write. Only a few of the bandits actually knew how to read other than theive's code and maps. He also decided to teach her how to fight. He could sense that the girl had the potential to become a higher class, she just needed training. He and a fellow bandit, the bird apparition Krissi, trained her in daggers and other small weapons. Larissa was at first clumsy in the moves until she found a rythm in the blocking and attacking. She then showed that her skills as a 'dancer' would help majorly in her skills as a fighter. _

_When she wasn't training she was dancing, accompanied by the minstrel-bandit Rent. Hiei often watched her, finding a peace that he was only now beginning to find in the hiruseki stone his Koorime mother had shed for him on his birth. She was a lovely sight. Krissi had sewn special clothes for her made out of fine pale white leather to complement her silver-purple skin and soft pink hair. Her breeches, boots, jerkin, shirt and long coat were made to be close fitting yet flexible enough for the agile girl to move about as she pleased in her dancing. Over the past few weeks Larissa had become a child of the bandits, dearly loved and someone they were feircely protective of. Some poor sap had made the mistake of throwing her a lewd comment one day while they were in one of the towns under the protection of the bandits. He soon found several knives close to his vital points, drawing slight blood as he was threatened to never even look at the young girl ever again or he would no longer have a reason to look at a girl from that point on._

_"What's the matter Hiei?" Larissa asked innocently, pausing in her dancing. Hiei shrugged, "Nothing, just thinking." Larissa 'hn'd, her favorite saying that she had picked up from her rescuer, then looked up to the first stars twinkling to life in the evening sky. Hiei saw her skin and eyes start to glow in imitation of those stars. A thought occurred to him. "Larissa? Do you know what type of apparition you are?" The girl looked at him and shook her head. "No, I'm sorry." She cringed reflexively despite her best efforts. Memories of punishments from not being able to give the master what he wanted still haunted her. Hiei's eyes softened. "Don't worry, you'll never be harmed again." He assured her softly as he always did. Larissa nodded./_

"...It turns out that the bastard that had forced her into slavery didn't know what type of apparition she was. He had only found her in a burned down settlement on the edge of the Forest of Fools. He picked her up because of her skin and gender, he was sure he would make a pretty penny." Hiei growled as he paced the small clearing in contained anger, the thought of what had been forced upon the young girl still enraged him and he again thought about how the bastard that had caused it had gotten off easy. Hiei had only diced him up fourty-two times in a split second, when he should have tortured the bastard.

Kurama let the fire apparition fume in silence for a few minutes, then he pressed him for the rest of the story. "When did you find out what she was?" He asked. Hiei paused then sighed, a sad and distant look in his eyes. "One day man related to the man that had paid Shou to rescue Larissa showed up..."

_/Larissa was dancing in the river, playing in the cool water and basking in the warm summer sunshine. Hiei sat on the bank, smiling and watching his love splash and sing one of her little songs, presenting herself in all her glory to the wonderful elements that she seemed to have such a close tie to. It had been four years since he had rescued her. Over that time she had managed to fully encompass the meaning on 'freedom' and was now the most free spirit Hiei or any of the bandits knew. Through the four years Hiei and Larissa had become close, their friendship heathily blossoming into love. After fifty-seven years of life Hiei had finally chosen a mate. Larissa saw him smiling and laughed, "Come Hiei! Come water-dance with me!" She giggled and pulled him to his feet to start to drag him into the river. Hiei laughed, "Let me get undressed first. I really don't want to go back to the lair soaking." The silver-skinned young woman smiled and waited impatiently for him to discard his clothing, then she dragged him into the deepest part of the river, the water reaching up to their necks._

_After swimming for fifteen minutes then drying for just as long they darned their clothing and headed back to the lair. Shou was at the entrance, waiting for them, a sad look in his face. "Hiei, Larissa. A man has come to see you darling. In the conference room." He said carefully to the two he had come to think of as his children, but especially to the girl. Hiei gave him a quirked eyebrow. -Why does he look that way?- He thought suspiciously. Larissa, the trusting creature that she was, just nodded and happily skipped inside, tugging Hiei behind her._

_In the large room that consisted of a large stone table and wooden benches sat a tall man. Hiei and Larissa gasped. His skin, hair and eyes were just like Larissa's. He stood upon seeing the girl. "Hello Larissa." He said softly as he bowed. "I have been looking for you. My brother informed me that he had found you but he could not help you. He had only enough time to ask these gentlemen to rescue you before it was his time to rise. Once he told me I had immediately fallen to find you, my love." He came and took her hands and kissed them. Hiei growled, "What do you think you are doing with Larissa?" The man looked down on him, in both sense of the word. "And who are you?" He asked arogantly. Hiei took Larissa's hands from the stranger to hold between his own. "I'm her mate." The man barked out a laugh. "My good sir," He said, making it sound insulting, "But you can't be her mate, for she already has one. We have been 'mates' since before she fell to this Star forsaken planet." He turned to the visibly confused and upset Larissa. "Oh, my poor dear. You may be in your true 'humanoid' form, but you don't have any of your memories do you? You don't even know what you are." He put his hand on her forehead and closed his eyes. Larissa gasped and backed away from him. Hiei immediately jumped in front of her, sword drawn. "No! Hiei don't! What he says is true!" She cried, tears streaming down her face. Hiei looked at her, bewildered. Larissa saw the look in his eyes and shook her head. "I'm sorry, but what he says is true..." She repeated, then she ran out of the room._

_Hiei turned to the stranger and growled, then followed his silver love out of the room. The man sighed and looked beyond the ceiling. "I must train her soon. She will rise with me."_

_Hiei found Larissa by her favorite looking pond. He sat beside her on her sunbathing rock and held out her coat that he had snagged of the peg by the entrance for her. For some odd reason a down pour had started. "Love, what's wrong? Please, tell me." He said quietly as she took the coat. She didn't answer him, only sat there in silence. After a while she gave a shuddered sigh. "Hiei...I am a Star... a star apparition or Kakou Hoshi. Kirst, that man, opened my memories. I am a Star that is living in the form of an apparition, my true form is metaphysical. Something happened when I 'fell' from the heavens. I lost my memories. I inhabited the body of 'Larissa', or her original name 'Aron', when she was four. Her village had been ransacked and she had died but her soul remained. When I 'fell' I merged with her soul and brought her back to life. Then that bastard enslaved me, then you rescued me when I was fourteen. Now Kirst has found me." She finally looked at Hiei, tears in her eyes. "Hiei, please know this, I truelly love you." She turned away. "But I belong to someone else." He opened his mouth but she shook her head. "No! Please, I have to leave you, I have to leave with him and return home." She got up to leave. Hiei rose up with her and grabbed her hands. "Why! Why, Larissa? Please tell me why. You know I love you, I've never loved anyone else." Hiei said desperately, instictively knowing what was about to happen. Larissa shook her head. "Please Hiei, let me go! You once said that I had the right to choose, that I was 'free'. I once thought you were the only one for me. But my heart still belongs to Kirst. Please, if you love me, let me be free," she said through her tears. Hiei searched her face, then nodded, hearing his heart break. He let her go and backed away. "Then be free. I never meant to chain you to this life," he said hoarsly as he held his own tears back. Larissa nodded, turned to leave then turned to Hiei and kissed him quickly before she ran back to the lair. Hiei stayed where he was, trying to collect the peices of his soul./_

"..." He walked to the far side of the grove and stared at the sky, hearing once again her words echo through his head, _'Please, if you love me, let me be free.'_ Kurama stood where he had been standing for the past half hour in silence, giving Hiei his space to brood over the painful past. Hiei sighed and bowed his head. "Those were the last words we ever exchanged. I stayed in the forest until night fall, when I returned she had already left with Kirst, supposedly to 'rise'. After that I spent more time roaming the forest and earning the title of a viscious and ruthless killer, trying to drown the memories. I guess I succeeded. Soon the bandits grew tired of my ways and abandoned me." He placed a hand above the area where he hid the two hiruseki stones, his and his sister's. "After awhile I too became tired of my ways and longed to find the peace that I had felt at one time in my life, though I couldn't remember where, it had been close to fourty years later. I began to stare into my hiruseki stone, finding that peace. Then one day I lost it. I made up my mind to find it and my homeland and family. You pretty much know the rest, I recieved the Jagan, visited the land of Koorime, found out that Yukina had left, then spent four years looking for her before I stumbled across you." He shrugged.

He started to walk away, then paused and gave a weak laugh. "You know, I had begun to think I 'loved' Mukuro. I guess after hearing her background my memory of Larissa and all my feelings about her became entangled with how I looked at Mukuro. Now that I remember, I realize I mostly look upon her as a mother."

He again started to leave but Kurama stopped him. "Hiei, do you feel that Arissa has the spirit of Larissa?" He asked. Hiei didn't turn around. "I don't know."


End file.
